David D'Or

D’Or was born in 1965 and grew up in Bat Yam, where he encountered music associated with several immigrant communities.[1][2] He recalled a Polish family living next door, an Iraqi family upstairs, a Moroccan family one floor below, and a Persian family nearby; he later connected his musical versatility to the varied sounds of this childhood environment.[2] The music he heard around him, he explained, did not feel foreign to him.[2]

He grew up in a traditional Jewish family and said that belief in God had accompanied him since childhood.[7] As a teenager, however, his limited encounters with religious communities left him alienated by what he perceived as disputes and divisions between religious groups.[7] His early musical activities included appearing in the fifth Children’s Song Festival, where he performed “Why Don’t the Grown-ups Learn from the Little Ones.”[8]

During his military service, D’Or was a member of the Central Command entertainment troupe.[8] He used his baritone voice during this period, before discovering the full extent of his upper register.[4] After leaving the military, he auditioned at Habima Theater for a singing-actor role.[4] At the audition, a director repeatedly asked the singers whether they could sing higher, until D’Or was the only one remaining; the director identified his voice as a countertenor and encouraged him to study.[4]

D’Or subsequently enrolled at the Jerusalem Academy of Music, studying voice, music theory, and composition.[4] His training also included classical and vocal instruction from opera singer Bibiana Goldenthal.[8] He described his original training as that of a classical tenor, although his later performances extended across soul, rock and roll, rhythm and blues, classical music, and Jewish prayer.[2]

D’Or began his musical career in 1991 and released his self-titled debut album in 1992.[2][8] Yehudit Ravitz produced the album, which included “Horse Without a Rider,” composed by D’Or to lyrics by Meir Goldberg; a new version of Zalman Shneur’s “Yad Anuga”; and “Don’t Get Excited,” composed by Meiri to words by Yona Wallach.[8] Another track, “Boker,” set a poem by Yehuda Amichai to music by Ravitz, with an arrangement by Ofir Meiri.[9] The poem depicts a lover standing beside his beloved’s bed and reflecting on his love for her, including the declaration “I love you with all my being.”[9]

In 1993, D’Or entered Israel’s Eurovision preselection with “Parpar,” which he wrote and composed.[8] The song placed fourth and appeared on his second album, “At Variable Height,” released that June and also known as “B’govah Mishtaneh.”[8][3] Its tracks included “I Fly,” “Guy’s Mother,” “Prayer,” and “Shmor al ha’olam,” also rendered in English as “Save the World.”[8]

“Shmor al ha’olam” became D’Or’s first major hit.[5] Accounts of its creation connect it both to his brother’s enlistment in the Israel Defense Forces and to the birth of his nephew Or.[3][5] D’Or described the song as an optimistic work, conceived as encouragement and a blessing, although it subsequently became associated with memorial ceremonies and Israel’s Memorial Day for fallen soldiers.[3][8] He recalled that his record company opposed recording it, but that he insisted on including it.[5] The recording combined oud, guitar, and a symphony orchestra, while D’Or recorded his own voice 45 times to produce a choir effect.[5]

The song appeared again in 1995 on “Shalom, Haver,” a double compilation of 34 songs released about a month after the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.[3] Several music-production companies cooperated on the compilation, participating artists waived royalties, and sales proceeds went to a fund commemorating Rabin and his legacy.[3] D’Or received credits as the song’s composer, lyricist, singer, and performer, with Ofir Meiri credited as arranger.[3]

After the success of his second album, D’Or toured and received an invitation to perform at the Vatican.[8] His first performance outside Israel was arranged by Nurit Tinari, then Israel’s cultural attaché in Rome, who heard him sing and invited him to perform before an assembly of cardinals.[2] D’Or recalled his surprise at finding himself, a Jew born in Bat Yam, singing for that audience.[2] His early international appearances also included performing “The Phantom of the Opera” at the Nobel Prize ceremony in Sweden.[8]

A collaboration with Shlomo Bar and the band HaBrira HaTivit developed into the joint show “David and Shlomo,” which began in late 1994 and was recorded in February 1995.[8] The resulting live recording, cataloged as “David and Solomon,” featured D’Or on vocals and Bar on vocals, drums, and flute, with Bar also credited for musical arrangements.[10] Other musicians played violin, acoustic guitar, santur, bass, percussion, and accordion.[10] D’Or later toured with Eti Ankri in 1997, and their joint show was documented on the 1998 album “The Performance.”[8]

His classical work included a formative engagement with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.[4] D’Or recalled that Zubin Mehta heard him at a recital at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and invited him to perform in “Carmina Burana” with the orchestra.[4] He regarded the engagement as an important step in developing and perfecting his countertenor voice.[4] The 2003 album “David D’Or and the Philharmonic,” issued by Hed Arzi, included his performance of “Amazing Grace,” with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Rafi Kadishzon, who also supplied the musical arrangement.[11]

In 2004, D’Or represented Israel at the Eurovision Song Contest with his own composition, “Leha’amin.”[5] He did not advance to the final.[5] Looking back, he said he had dreamed of entering Eurovision as a child, but by the time he competed he felt that the contest’s emphasis had shifted from music toward showmanship.[5]

Jewish liturgical music became a central strand of his work after his father’s death.[2][4] During the year of mourning, he visited different synagogues to recite Kaddish and encountered Ashkenazi, Sephardi, and Yemenite prayer traditions.[4] He began singing and arranging this music and incorporating its influences into his own compositions.[4] His renewed involvement in prayer and Jewish texts also gave him a way to express grief and maintain a connection with his father through piyyutim.[7]

D’Or developed a particular interest in Selihot, the penitential prayers associated with the High Holidays.[2] Although recording companies were initially uninterested in releasing these melodies, he persisted with the project.[2] In collaboration with Patrick Sebag, he released “Shirat Rabim” and, about two years later, “Shirat Rabim 2,” bringing together prayers and piyyutim from Eastern and Western Jewish traditions.[6] D’Or said that the first album achieved gold status and led to appearances at major world-music festivals, where he sang prayers including “Lecha Dodi” and “Avinu Malkeinu” before large, often predominantly non-Jewish audiences.[6] He described hearing festival audiences sing and dance to the prayers as a powerful experience.[6]

His collaborative recordings also included the 2007 disc “A Mix of Middle-Eastern, Jewish & Samaritan Authentic Music,” on which he appeared alongside Dudu Tassa, Amitai Pariente, Patrick Sebag, and Sofi Tsedaka.[12] The 36-minute recording was sung chiefly in Hebrew and included “Kol Rina,” “Rebutale,” “Tov Ometiv,” “Open Your Hands,” “Fire Dance,” “Leha Dodi,” and “Eluhinu.”[12]

D’Or’s international engagements have included performances for Popes John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Francis, with a Hebrew song included in his selections for them.[2] His appearances also included a ceremony marking the tenth anniversary of the September 11 attacks and the closing ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics.[13] In 2013, during U.S. President Barack Obama’s visit to Israel, D’Or sang “Amazing Grace” at President Shimon Peres’s official residence.[2] He recalled that Obama complimented him and joked that, if D’Or visited the White House, Obama would sing the bass parts while D’Or took the higher sections.[2]

D’Or has performed across North and South America, Asia, Europe, Australia, and North Africa.[2] Two albums he recorded in Taiwan achieved gold status.[2] He has said that his performances abroad often combine Hebrew songs with Jewish roots and songs in the language of the country he is visiting.[2] His earlier experience at Habima also formed part of his account of this international career: he recalled initially singing behind the scenes while another performer lip-synced onstage.[13]

In a separate account of a London performance before an audience of 25,000, D’Or described suddenly developing impaired hearing and ringing in his ears.[7] Initially suspecting a sound-system problem, he realized that his hearing was affected after the sound engineer told him the volume was already at its maximum; he continued much of the performance from memory.[7] He said that doctors initially told him nothing could be done, but that his hearing recovered after three months.[7]

Alongside music, D’Or pursued painting, beginning in his late father’s former carpentry workshop in Tel Aviv and using tools his father had worked with.[5] He opened an exhibition at a Jaffa gallery in 2019.[4] A 2022 profile described him as having made visual art for 15 years, with works shown in exhibitions.[5] D’Or connected music and painting as expressions arising from the same inner place, and described visual art as another outlet for his interest in color.[4][5]

D’Or’s recordings helped popularize traditional Jewish music in Israel, while his festival appearances carried Hebrew prayers to large audiences beyond the Jewish community.[2][6] His repertoire brought together the liturgical traditions he encountered in Ashkenazi, Sephardi, and Yemenite synagogues with his experience of classical and popular music.[2][4] The “Shirat Rabim” projects gave this combination a recorded form, joining Eastern and Western Jewish prayer traditions in collaboration with Patrick Sebag.[6]

His commercial recognition includes three Israeli “Singer of the Year” awards.[2] A 2019 interview reported that nine of his albums had achieved platinum status.[4] Two albums recorded in Taiwan achieved gold status.[2] The first “Shirat Rabim” album also achieved gold status.[6] “Shmor al ha’olam” acquired a place in Israeli memorial observance, extending the public life of a song originally conceived in an optimistic spirit.[3]

D’Or’s connection with Shimon Peres also extended to the former president’s funeral arrangements: Peres requested in his will that D’Or sing “Avinu Malkeinu” at his funeral.[2] D’Or said he was moved when informed of the request.[2]

In 2016, D’Or withdrew from a planned appearance at a Tel Aviv rally connected to an IDF soldier who had shot a disarmed Palestinian attacker in Hebron.[14] His public explanation cited scheduling conflicts, while in a television interview he said he wanted to avoid the event’s “distinctive political orientation.”[14] He also explained that his original intention had been to express empathy for the soldier’s family and affirmed his belief in Israel’s justice system.[14]